


The Joy of Fatherhood

by kaeda



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Crack, Force Ghosts, Haunting, M/M, Matchmaking, Sarcasm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 05:39:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7254697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeda/pseuds/kaeda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben shook his head fiercely. “I’m not injured or hallucinating. This is the Force, sending me visions. My father is standing next to you.”</p><p>Hux raised both eyebrows and very pointedly stared at the empty patch of air that was Han. “Oh, is he?” he asked dryly. If he hadn’t had the blood of billions on his hands, Han almost thought he could like him; he seemed like the kind of asshole that Han had always found entertaining.</p><p>Han shrugged at Ben. “What can you do? We’ve all worked with jerks.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Joy of Fatherhood

**Author's Note:**

> There’s references to death, the afterlife, crimes against humanity, and a dysfunctional family in this fic. There's also some swearing, if that bothers you.
> 
> This fic is totally ridiculous, but I needed a break when I was blocked on Return to Sender's sequel...and this happened.
> 
> This is, awkwardly, the first fic I’ve written where Ben Solo is actually Kylo Ren in the canon timeline.

Han Solo had never believed in the afterlife.

He knew objectively that something like it seemed to exist; he hadn’t married into a Jedi family for nothing. He had just assumed it was all hocus pocus, Force nonsense, something for people like Leia and Luke, both made from magic itself. Not for _him_.

But as he was hurtling through the air, a gushing lightsaber wound through his middle and an impossible fall beneath him, something had shifted. One moment, he’d been bracing himself for the end of everything, thinking _here it finally comes_ , and the next, he was…elsewhere.

Elsewhere was, unfortunately, a strange misty swamp filled with the songs of strange birds. Some creature with entirely too many tentacles swam near the surface in a pool of water nearby.

“The Force can’t even get hell right,” Han muttered. “What good is it?”

A croaking laugh sounded behind him, and Han nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned slowly, feeling at his side for a blaster and realizing that he was unarmed, dressed in his usual smuggler’s outfit. As he moved, he noted that his body felt lighter and stronger than ever, and a glance down at his hands revealed them to be free of wrinkles.

Yup, definitely dead, then. There didn’t yet exist any elixir that could restore the youth to old skin.

The creature laughing at him from the shadows was small, green, and long-eared, and Han had heard of him only in stories. He still recognized him immediately. “Yoda!” he shouted, pointing at him. “What the hell is this? I’m not Force sensitive! How the hell am I here?”

Yoda regarded him passively, unmoved in the face of his outburst. “Mmm. Strange are the ways of the Force,” was all he said.

“Exceedingly unhelpful,” Han muttered. “And the afterlife is a swamp?” He wrinkled his nose at a particularly aromatic odor that suddenly reached him. “Let the Force know that I’m not impressed.”

“You can let it know yourself, as you’re now one with it,” a smoother voice intoned. Another figure stepped out of the bushes to join Yoda. Even though he looked far younger and handsomer than for the few days Han had known him nearly forty years before, there was no way that he didn’t recognize _Obi-wan Kenobi_.

“Wonderful,” Han said. “What are _you_ here to do? Fail to tell my son that he has a sister until after he’s kissed her?” Apparently he was still bitter about that; forty years of annoyance did that to a person.

“Ben doesn’t have a sister,” Obi-wan said, completely missing the sarcasm.

Well, that was a relief. Even in the face of impossible odds, if they’d managed to hide her from Force ghosts, they’d _definitely_ managed to hide her from Snoke. “Definitely,” Han agreed. “It’s not that I’m not charmed by the company – I always wanted to spend the afterlife with a couple of cryptic old Jedi – but I probably should be going.”

“And where exactly are you planning on going?” a third voice rang out.

Han didn’t recognize the newcomer. He was young, with long hair and a boyish smile, and he made his way over to stand at Obi-wan’s side. Han hadn’t been born a fool, however. If Yoda and Obi-wan were here, that could only mean that the third of their trio had to be…

“You weren’t the best of son in laws,” the third man said with a troublemaking grin. “But then, I wasn’t the best of fathers. Truce?” He held out his hand.

“I’m not shaking hands with you,” Han said. “Forty years ago, you froze me and sold me to a _bounty hunter_.”

“You were getting fresh with my daughter,” said Darth fucking Vader.

“ _You didn’t even know she was your daughter_!” Han shouted. “What is this crap? I can’t even get a break once I’m dead?” He threw up his hands and stormed off as far as he was able, which was essentially around a giant tree, where he was met with a dead end and more swamp. He muttered a few choice curses and turned back around to face them all again. None of the ghosts had moved.

“The Force gave you a spiritual presence for a reason,” Obi-wan said. How did the goddamn man always manage to sound so wise?

“Oh really?” Han said nastily. “I’m kind of tired of the Force having interest in me, to be honest.”

“Aren’t we all,” Anakin muttered dryly.

“Important, you are,” Yoda interjected. “Restore the balance, only you can.”

“Balance? What balance?” Han narrowed his eyes. “Does this have to do with Ben?”

That threw him back to his last moments, the last time he’d seen his son. Ben had grown into the awkward features from his childhood, and he’d become tall and strong. He looked nothing like Han or Leia, but there was some Solo family resemblance there – Han’d had a cousin who had the same dark hair and large features. There were some places in Corellia where Ben wouldn’t be able to set foot without immediately being pegged for a Solo.

“Of course this has to do with my grandson,” Darth Vader said bitchily. “He’s a mess.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” Han retorted. “Ben’s confused. He doesn’t know how to handle his feelings.”

“A common Skywalker trait,” said Obi-wan, looking fondly at Vader. Apparently thirty years in the afterlife had fostered forgiveness for being murdered, although Han, frankly, didn’t understand it.  
  
(Well, until he thought of Ben. He’d already forgiven his own murderer, probably long before Ben would ever forgive himself.)

“Force,” Han swore. “All right. Ben needs my help, and killing me didn’t achieve whatever it was he was looking for.”

“He sought the key to the dark side,” Vader told him. “He failed to find it.”

“Seductive, the dark side can be,” Yoda added. “The light as well. Paired, they are. In your son are both.”

“Killing you didn’t achieve Snoke’s objective of driving out the light from Ben’s heart,” Obi-wan translated. “It’s unlikely that anything will. There’s a thread of goodness in him that has survived everything Snoke has thrown at him, just as there was a thread of darkness in him to allow Snoke access in the first place.”

“It’s likely that Snoke will be angry, once he discovers that his plan has failed,” Darth Vader chimed in. Han wondered if they’d rehearsed this speech or if pontificating just came naturally to all of them. “He will continue to try to turn Ben using everyone close to him.” He closed his eyes theatrically. “There is one person who can be used to succeed. Do not let Snoke discover who that is, and help Ben keep that person safe.”

Leia had just as much of a habit of being dramatic, Han thought fondly. He hadn’t seen enough of her, right before the end. He’d have liked the chance to…well, that was all in the past, now.

“Listen here, Vader,” he began.

“Anakin,” corrected Vader and Obi-wan in unison.

Han raised an eyebrow at them. “Look, I knew you when you went by the name Darth Vader, so that’s the name I’m gonna use, okay?”

“It’s not who I am,” Vader said, almost sadly. “Not anymore.”

“Don’t give me that crap,” said Han. “Changing your name and pretending you’re a different person doesn’t absolve you of your sins. I know that’s your Jedi philosophy, and now Ben’s adopted it too, but you’re still the same person who tortured me, right?”

Vader took a moment before nodding.

“And you’re still the crazy old man who proselytized on my ship and then went and got his damn fool ass killed, right?” Han continued, looking at Obi-wan this time. At least Obi-wan had the sense of humor to crack a smile at the question before nodding. “And no matter how much my son calls himself Kylo Ren, he’s still my son. I’d call him whatever he wanted as long as he stopped telling me that Ben was dead.”

“Lost, Ben Solo is,” Yoda piped up. Han appreciated his willingness to stay out of the majority of their discussion since following his grammatical structure gave him a headache. “To himself, very real is Kylo Ren.”

“So we’re going to help you help your son,” Vader explained. “Now you know that you must protect the one thing that he loves most.”

“Which wasn’t me.” Han tried not to sound bitter, but _really_ , he’d dedicated _years_ to trying to teach that kid to fly around the galaxy. No appreciation at all? “It’s Leia, isn’t it? He always loved her more than me.”

“Cloudy, the future is,” Yoda intoned. “Know there is one, we do, but hidden from us is their identity. Discover it, you must.”

“Oh, joy,” said Han. “Okay. Fine. Let’s g—“

The swamp faded out as though it had never been. 

* * *

Han rematerialized in what was obviously a large battle cruiser of some sort. The interior surfaces gleamed black, with First Order insignia scattered throughout, enough to give Han some clue about where he’d ended up. Just as he’d found his bearings, a pair of stormtroopers marched through the hallway. Han gave a shout of alarm and turned to run, but to his shock and surprise, the troopers marched right through him without registering that he was even there.

Right. He was a ghost, now.

For the first time, he considered his own corporality. From the backs of his hands and the firm muscle of his arms, he could tell that he was young again, but how young? Would Ben be able to see him? Would he even recognize him? Was Han handsome once more? Could _Leia_ see him?

He moved towards one of the shining surfaces and tried to catch his own reflection, but he saw nothing but the dancing of the overhead lights above him.

It was probably time to get moving and find Ben. Han rounded the corner and ran smack dab into some First Order brass having a chat in the hallway, completely in listening range for any ghosts who happened to be around.

“Ren’s shuttle just landed, sir,” said a stormtrooper in shining chrome armor with a female voice. Han recognized her from their brief skirmish on the surface of Starkiller Base – she was Finn’s former commander, Phasma. So she’d survived the trash compactor, then, and the destruction of the planet.

The man she was speaking to was tall, wiry, and red-haired, and Han recognized him from the holos – it was the maniac who’d blown up the Hosnian system.

“Wonderful,” the man replied in a tone of voice that implied that it was very much not wonderful at all. “I’ll go meet him presently.” Han wracked his brain – did he even still have a brain, as a ghost? – but he couldn’t remember the man’s name, only that he’d performed an over-the-top speech that involved a lot of spitting and flared nostrils before giving the order to destroy billions of lives. He seemed to be just as charming in person as he had appeared on the holo.

Then, Phasma’s words registered – _Ren’s shuttle_. That was _Ben_ they were talking about. If the redheaded fascist was going to meet him, then Han probably should follow him.

The general walked quickly, but Han’s Force presence was young and spry and could keep up easily, dogging his footsteps. He amused himself by trying to step on the backs of the general’s boots, but of course, it had no effect. Soon, they reached a large hanger bay looking out onto space, and the general came to a stop outside a pitch black shuttle modeled after the old Imperial style.

Ben stood outside the shuttle, waiting for them, maskless and glowering, with a hefty scar slashed diagonally across his face, a new acquisition since the last time Han had seen him.

He also spotted Han immediately. Years of living under a mask had made it impossible for him to hide his reaction; his eyes widened and he froze, staring at the space next to the general.

“Ren?” the general asked in a tone of voice that implied that he was deeply skeptical of everything that Han’s son chose to be. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”

“He almost has a sense of humor,” Han said to Ben. "Or at least, he would if he could see me.”

“Shut up!” Ben yelled, pointing at him. “You’re dead!”

The general didn’t take this outburst very well. “Excuse me?” he said, glancing at the empty-appearing air beside him before turning back to Ben. “Isn’t it a bit early for threats, Ren? You’ve only just come on board.”

“I’m not talking to you, Hux,” Ben snapped. Ah yes, General Hux. Now Han remembered his name.

“Ben,” said Han. “Son. I’ve missed you.”

“My _name_ is Kylo Ren!” Ben insisted.

Hux discreetly pulled out his comlink and paged the medbay. “Do stay calm, Ren,” he said. “The medical droids will be here in a moment to check you for head injuries.”

Ben shook his head fiercely. “I’m not injured or hallucinating. This is the Force, sending me visions. My father is standing next to you.”

Hux raised both eyebrows and very pointedly stared at the empty patch of air that was Han. “Oh, is he?” he asked dryly. If he hadn’t had the blood of billions on his hands, Han almost thought he could like him; he seemed like the kind of asshole that Han had always found entertaining.

Han shrugged at Ben. “What can you do? We’ve all worked with jerks.”

Ben gritted his teeth and pointed at him again. “I’ll deal with you later,” he promised, an empty threat considering that Han was already dead. He turned to Hux, apparently steadfastly deciding to ignore Han from that point on. “My training was…less successful than the Supreme Leader originally anticipated. He’s given me a new mission, and I expect the Finalizer to be ready to assist me with it.”

“Oh? Do we get to learn of what this new mission is, or are you just going to order us around again?” Hux asked, a hint of bitterness creeping into his tone.

Ben looked straight at Han once more, his mouth curving into a vicious little smile. “My mission is to find and kill Luke Skywalker.”

Was this the reason that he’d been turned into a Force ghost? To save Luke and prevent his son from taking the final step into absolute darkness? 

Han had been too shocked to continue to annoy Ben as he stalked out of the hanger, Hux following with gritted teeth. He couldn’t let his son kill Luke. It was _Luke_ , and it would destroy Leia, who was far too used to losing people she loved to lose any more.  
  
Han sat down in the corner of the hanger to think. How was he supposed to stop Ben from killing Luke? He was noncorporeal, so he’d have to reason with him, except that Ben seemed no more inclined to listen to his father as a ghost than he had been to listen to him while living and breathing. There’d been a reason that Han had always used Leia or Chewie to relay messages to Ben once he’d hit adolescence.

General Hux was back, stalking a circle around Ben’s shuttle and peering at it. The stormtroopers and technicians crowding the bay mostly ignored him other than to give him space, and nobody seemed to find this behavior odd. Curious, Han stood and walked back over to find out what the general was up to.

Oddly, he was whispering Han’s own name. “Han Solo! Are you there? Make some sort of signal if you can hear me.” He seemed to be making a slow circuit around the shuttle, whispering Han’s name every once in awhile as though he might make contact.

Interesting. So despite his sarcasm, the general had believed Ben after all.

Han wasn’t really sure how to make himself known to a person with no Force sensitivity. He was still new to this ghost gig, after all, and he wasn’t sure what the limits of his own abilities were. He tried to reach out and touch Hux’s arm, but his hand went right through the thick fabric of the arm of Hux’s coat and out the other side.

He couldn’t touch the living. Could he touch inanimate objects? Ghosts sometimes haunted houses by knocking things over and moving furniture around, didn’t they? There was no time like the present to find out.

He reached out and easily picked up a hydrospanner lying next to the shuttle where some mechanic had abandoned it. Han gave a shout of triumph (which of course nobody heard) and resisted the urge to throw the spanner at the back of Hux’s head. Instead, he dropped it back onto the floor with a _clang!_

Hux whirled to face him. “Solo?” he demanded.

Han picked up the spanner again and floated it in the air in front of him.

“This had better not be one of Ren’s wizard tricks,” Hux snapped. “I have no time for childish games.” He’d had plenty of time to commit genocide, though. General Hux had pretty twisted priorities.

Han dropped the spanner once more.

“Okay,” said Hux. “Raise the spanner for yes, lower it for no. I’m guessing you can’t speak to me?”

Han lifted the spanner back up and then lowered it again. “This feels idiotic,” he said.

“That’s a shame. I could have used some of the dirt that you’d have on Ren,” Hux said almost to himself, smirking slightly. He grew serious again a moment later. “I came to find you for a reason.” He clearly steeled himself, biting his lower lip and closing his eyes as though whatever he was about to say physically pained him.

Han waved the hydrospanner in a gesture that he hoped translated to “go on”. 

Hux sighed. “I’m worried about Ren,” he finally admitted. When he opened his eyes again, it was clear that Han had been missing something underneath the feigned annoyance and biting wit. There was clear concern in Hux’s eyes, and Han wondered if he’d found an ally in the strangest of places.  
  
He lifted the hydrospanner in the ‘yes’ gesture, hoping it would keep Hux talking.

“If he goes on like this, Snoke’s going to get him killed,” Hux said. “Hunting down Luke Skywalker? We hardly had the manpower to even repair the Finalizer after the Starkiller battle. How does he expect that we can go up against a Jedi? That idiot.”

Han raised the spanner again, hoping to encourage Hux to stay away from Luke.

“He was destroyed after he killed you,” Hux added. “Absolutely gutted. I’ve never seen him like that before or since, but he was inconsolable.” He looked away, frowning. “You have to convince him this is a stupid quest. I’m not using my ship to hunt down Skywalker, not when there’s so much to be done to rebuild the Order.”

“Do I look like I’m going to help your damn Order?” Han muttered, lowering the spanner as Hux looked towards him once more. Unfortunately, his objective and Hux’s own were the same – keep Ben from going after Luke. They wanted it for different reasons, but it appeared that they were reluctant allies.

Hux had realized the same. “I hardly think you want him to murder your brother-in-law next,” he said with a bitter sort of humor. “You’re not really in a position to refuse an alliance.”

Han sighed, knowing it was true, and lowered the spanner once more. 

“So we’re agreed? You’ll work on Ren, convince him that this is a stupid plan? Surely he can find some other way to unlock the worst of himself without killing his own uncle.” Han doubted that Hux had ever had any trouble unlocking the worst of his own self; Ben’s conundrum probably seemed totally inexplicable to him.  
  
Reluctantly, Han raised the spanner a final time. “Yes, you asshole, we’re agreed.”

“Good,” said Hux, turning on his heel. “And if I find out you’re some other presence masquerading as Han Solo, I’ll find a way to destroy you myself.” He strode away without another word.

* * *

After his encounter with Hux, Han took the opportunity to roam the ship, which was the size of a city in space. Ben’s rooms were helpfully labeled on a map he found in a stormtrooper staging area (labeled ‘Kylo Ren – beware!’ with an angry face), and he used that to make his way into the executive area of the ship.

He was about to slip through the solid matter of Ben’s door (a handy trick he’d discovered) when he felt a poof of cold air.

“You might need some backup on this one,” Vader said, materializing beside him. 

Han swore loudly and creatively. “Don’t _do_ that!” he snapped.  
  
Vader smirked. “Did I scare you to death?” he asked. The joke was so bad that it reminded Han of some of the horrible jokes he’d used to make at Ben, just to try to get him to crack a smile, and he found his dislike of Vader fading slightly.

Just slightly.

“You think I can’t handle my son myself?” Han asked. “Then why send me here in the first place?”

Vader shrugged. “I didn’t do any of it,” he said. “The Force moves in mysterious ways.”

“I can’t touch the living,” Han mused. “But do you think it’d be possible for me to punch another ghost? Why don’t we find out?”

“Whoa,” said Vader, backing up and holding his hands up, palm out, to show that he had no intention of fighting. “Calm down. I’m on _your_ side here.”

“I don’t see what good _you_ can do here,” Han told him. “What are you going to do, freeze him in carbonite?”

“It’s tempting!” Vader retorted. “At least then he’d stop being a threat to the entire galaxy!” They glared at one another for a moment, at an impasse. “By the way,” Vader added, “just so you know, your son’s having a breakdown on the other side of this door.”

He was infuriating. Without another word, Han pushed himself through the physical door to Ben’s chambers and found his giant grown adult son lying miserably facedown on his bed.

“Ben,” he said, and Ben shot to sitting up so fast that Han was surprised he didn’t have whiplash. Now that he could see his face, it was clear that Ben’s eyes were red-rimmed and watery. Had he been crying?

Han had never been good at comforting Ben when he’d been younger and emotional; Leia had taken that role more often than not. But Leia wasn’t there, so Han sat gingerly at the end of Ben’s bed (which thankfully held him up) and reached down to give Ben a hug, promptly falling straight through him to land on the bed below.

Ben went from miserable to bewildered. “You can’t touch me?” he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

“No,” confirmed Han. “But if I could, I would give you a hug.”

Ben scrubbed at his eyes. “Why would you ever _hug_ me? I _killed_ you. My own father! You’re a ghost here in my room because of _me_!” He threw himself onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, while Han pulled himself back up so that he wasn’t awkwardly looking at Ben through himself. “And now, Snoke wants me to do it again!”

“He’s going to ask you to do it over and over again,” Han told him. “Until that final spark of light is gone forever. You know that, right?”

“I know, you told me so. He’s using me, isn’t that what you said?” Ben covered his face with one arm, perhaps to hide more tears. “But what can I do? I have nowhere to go. Mom won’t take me back, never, not that I want her to! The Republic is corrupt and would probably execute me for war crimes.” He sighed, long and low. “I can’t leave. I’m trapped.”

“You’re still in grave danger,” Vader spoke from behind Han. It was the first time he’d made his presence known, and Ben shot up to sitting again, blinking furiously to take in this new vision. “There’s still one person that Snoke can make you kill who will turn you completely to the dark side.”

To Han’s surprise, Ben blinked excitedly. “Who are you? And there’s really someone, someone who could turn me? Who is it?” He grinned at Han, an unhinged sort of smile that spoke volumes about how the First Order had twisted him. “It’s a way out, Dad. If I can turn completely, I’ll become more powerful than Snoke. I can defeat him!”

“At what cost?” Han asked gently. “Your humanity?”

“My humanity is already gone,” Ben said bitterly. “I’m a monster who killed his own father.”

Vader walked to the edge of the bed and peered at him. “From one monster to another, there’s always humanity left,” he said. “I killed my wife. I cut off my son’s hand. I murdered countless people.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “ _Grandfather_ ,” he whispered reverently.

Han wasn’t sure what Darth Vader had ever done to win Ben’s unconditional love like that, but it was clearly unfair, especially when Vader was such a smug shit even in the afterlife.

“But you still haven’t fallen all the way, Kylo,” Vader continued. “You won’t until you find that person who is your true weakness and murder them.”

“Yes!” Ben said triumphantly. “I’ll find them, and kill them, and be more powerful than Snoke himself!”

“Somehow, I didn’t think turning my son completely to the dark side was our objective here,” Han pointed out. “Just a thought.”

Vader ignored him. “Do you know who that person is?” he prompted. If this backfired and Ben killed Leia, Han was going to find a way to kill someone again _just_ for Darth Vader.

“It’s not Luke,” Ben said decisively.

“Is it your mom?” Han asked fearfully. “Because if you think _I’m_ annoying as a Force ghost, just you wait—“

“It’s not Mom,” Ben said thoughtfully. His cheeks had turned pink, and Vader and Han both looked at one another in confusion. Who else was there? Ben didn’t know about his sister. There was no one else left in their family…

Han had a sick feeling in his stomach. “Oh god, is it Snoke?” he asked in horror. Wouldn’t that be an awful conundrum, if the one person that Ben had to kill to turn to the dark side happened to be the one person that many many other people wanted dead, Han included?

Ben rolled his eyes like an indignant teenager. “Ew, it’s not Snoke,” he said.

If it wasn’t Snoke, then…did Ben have someone he loved? Perhaps a lady stormtrooper? The idea that Ben would have a lover, that Ben had a life that Han knew nothing about, threw him for a loop.

“You know who it is, don’t you?” Vader asked.

“I know who it is,” Ben said, still blushing and looking faintly sick to his stomach. “I—I can’t do it. Snoke can’t make me.”

“You know he will,” Vader said gently. “Snoke will make his way through everyone in your family, making you kill them all, and eventually he’ll find out who this person is and tell you to destroy them.” There was a cold sadness in his eyes, one that Han hadn’t noticed before, and he remembered him saying earlier that the dark side had made him kill his own wife.

Oh god, if Ben had a lover, then… “I’m not a grandfather, am I?” Han asked before he could help himself.

Ben and Vader both turned to look at him strangely. “What?” asked Ben.

“I mean,” Han backpedaled. “You clearly have someone you love, and I know nothing about your life in the First Order. Maybe you have a wife! How would I know?”

“You’re not a grandfather,” Ben told him. “I don’t have a wife.”

“Or a husband?” Han amended quickly, remembering the way that Ben had looked at Poe Dameron when he’d been a teenager.

Ben’s blush deepened. “Or a _husband;_ why are you asking me this?!”

“Maybe I want to know about your life! I’m your father!” Han declared hotly. “It’s not like we had time to catch up before you shoved a lightsaber into me!”

Ben threw himself back onto his back on the bed with a groan. “You’re the _worst_ ,” he said. “I don’t know why I’ve felt so guilty about killing you.”

“So you know who this person is,” Vader continued, ignoring all the histrionics around him.

“ _Yes_ , but he’s not my lover, we’re not even…” Ben rubbed his face, clearly upset. “I’m not going to kill him,” he said in a small voice. “Grandfather, I’ve failed you.”

Vader blinked and looked in confusion at Han, who shrugged, trying to communicate ‘ _my kid is a basket case, how do I know what he’s thinking?_ ’

“You haven’t failed me,” Vader said.

“I’ve _failed_ you,” Ben declared, firmer this time. “I was going to finish what you started, create a galaxy-wide empire, ruled by the might of the dark side of the Force…but I can’t even get rid of the light side completely, not like Snoke wants, and I can’t kill the person you’re talking about, it’d absolutely ruin me.”

“You stand at a point where your destiny rests upon this choice,” Vader told him. He sounded more like old man Obi-wan than he had before, and Han wondered if they’d rehearsed this moment. “Your master will not let you love someone without destroying them. Without killing them, there will always be good in you.” He shrugged. “What’s so bad about the light side?”

Ben sat up and stared at him. “What’s so bad about the light side? _What’s so bad about the light side?_ ”

“It was pretty good to me until Palpatine manipulated me,” said Vader, who maybe did deserve to be called Anakin after all if this was his recruitment speech. “The Jedi were awful, but they’re all gone, so you don’t have to deal with that. What’s so bad about being on the light side? Or a mixture?”

“Snoke doesn’t want it,” said Ben petulantly.

“Does Snoke not want it for your sake or for his own?” Han asked.

“Then kill him,” Anakin said at the same time.

Han looked at him. “I thought you were championing the light side.”

“Please,” said Anakin. “Even Jedi killed dark Jedi. There’s no shame in it. Luke’s killed, hasn’t he?”

Ben was staring at him like his whole world had been turned upside down. “I can keep the light in myself?” he asked wonderingly. “It’s not a weakness? Not my fault?”

“Force, what has Snoke done to you?” Han asked. He turned to Anakin. “I agree. Kill him.”

Ben sighed. “I don’t think I can. I’m not strong enough.”

Han thought about this for a minute. “You may have an ally,” he said. “That asshole general was looking for me earlier and asked me to help you before Snoke got you killed.” To his surprise, Ben flushed again and sat up straighter.

“Hux did?” he asked.

With that, all the pieces clicked into place.

“ _General Hux_ is the one person whose death can drive you to the dark side?” Han asked incredulously. “ _Him_?”

Ben blushed brighter. “What? No!”

“I guess liking jerks runs in the family,” Anakin commented. “Like mother, like son, right?”

“Look, I’ve never destroyed an entire planetary system before,” Han snapped. “Unlike, oh wait, _you_.”

“That was Tarkin’s command,” Anakin replied breezily.

“Did you stop him? I didn’t see you stopping him.”

Ben ignored them to groan and lie back on the bed again. “I’m finished,” he said.

“Not necessarily,” Anakin said thoughtfully. “If you can’t kill Snoke, you can at least run away from the Order and leave his influence. There are places that mask the Force; find one of them so that he can’t find you. For example, there’s a powerful dark side cave on Dagobah that hides any Force signatures around it.”

“There’s also a planet on the Rim with creatures that naturally block the Force,” Han suggested. “It’s a big smugglers’ haven.”

“Honestly, even Endor would probably work,” Anakin said thoughtfully. “The Emperor died there, and he was an incredible powerful Sith.”

“Running away would keep your general safe,” Han added. “Snoke only wants him dead because of you, right?”

“No,” Ben said mournfully. “Snoke’s furious with him for the loss of Starkiller Base. One more failure like that and Snoke will have him executed. I have to stay to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

As if summoned by the topic, Ben’s door chimed at that moment. They all stopped and looked at each other in surprise.

Ben pushed himself off of the bed, lumbering to the door comm and pressing the button to activate the external camera. Han caught a glimpse of Hux in front of the door before Ben quickly deactivated it again.

“He’s here,” Ben hissed. “What do I do?”

There was a knock at the door now, insistent. “Ren!” the general shouted. “I know you’re in there. Open up!”

“Well?” asked Han. “Aren’t you going to let him in?”

Ben sighed and pressed the button to slide open his door. Hux strode inside, dressed as impeccably as he had been earlier, hair slicked back and uniform perfectly pressed.

“ _That’s_ your weakness?” Anakin asked. “And I thought it was bad when my daughter married a smuggler.”

“I’m _right here_ ,” said Han.

Ben ignored them both and regarded Hux petulantly. “What do you want?” he asked, his mouth turned in a sour frown.

“Did your father…no, you know what, I don’t even care,” Hux began. “You’re an idiot, Ren.”

“Excuse me?” Ben immediately frowned and tried to loom over Hux, using the mere one inch of height difference to his best advantage. “You can’t come in here and insult me like that.”

“I think I can. The Supreme Leader is going to get you killed. Surely there’s a better way to ‘harness the darkness in yourself’ or whatever than hunting down Skywalker.”

“There is,” said Ben hollowly. “It’s not an option.”

Hux rolled his eyes. “What do you mean, it’s not an option? Everything is an option. What is it?”

Ben froze. “I can’t tell you,” he said. For a Solo, he had a really awful sabaac face. Han was almost embarrassed; he thought he’d raised him better than that.

Hux was not intimidated in least by Ben’s powers or his size. He strode right up to him and stood in his personal space, glaring the entire time. “You are an asset to the First Order. I am not going to let the Supreme Leader work against this Order’s interests by wasting time and manpower on a useless quest to find a man who could be already dead or who could be so powerful that he could get you killed.”

“It sounds like you think you could rule this Order better than the Supreme Leader,” Ben said. “Maybe you should take that up with him.”

Han sidled over to Anakin. “This is kind of awkward,” he said. Anakin hushed him, clearly overinvested in the drama unfolding in front of them. There must not have been much entertainment in the afterlife.

“Stop trying to change the subject, Ren,” said Hux. “What’s this way that you can gain access to your true power without going after Skywalker?” He sounded like he consistently wanted to put all references to the Force in air quotes, and Han found himself empathizing with him, which was horrifying considering the man was a war criminal.

“I can’t tell you,” said Ben.

“I don’t know how you expect me to help you when you won’t even include me,” Hux snapped.

“I don’t expect you to help me,” Ben growled back. “You should stay away from me. Mind your own business.”

Hux drew back to perfect posture. “I simply don’t understand why you insist on discarding a viable option.” He sighed. “If there’s a solution that doesn’t involve going after Skywalker, I imagine it must be better. So what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that I can’t kill you!” Ben yelled, clearly frustrated with the conversation. Han glanced at Anakin, who was glued to the scene in front of them like he was watching something on the holo.

Hux stared at Ben, blinking in surprise. For a moment, it was silent in the room as the two of them faced one another.

“Kill me?” Hux asked at last. “Why would you have to kill me?”

Ben’s useless sabaac face struck again as a deep flush spread across his cheeks. He turned away, not making eye contact. “No reason,” he blatantly lied. 

General Hux was not a stupid man. He narrowed his eyes. “There is definitely a reason,” he said. “Allow me to get this straight. _I’m_ the person you need to kill in order to fully succumb to your ‘dark side’?”  
  
Ben nodded miserably.

“Does this have something to do with Starkiller? I know that Snoke’s been trying to find an excuse to be rid of me.”

Ben shook his head. “Nothing to do with Starkiller, other than that we figured out my dad wasn’t the one.” He looked morosely over at Han, who shrugged. At least Leia wasn’t the one person that his son loved more than anyone else. It wasn’t like he cared that a ginger asshole ranked over him in the hierarchy of Ben’s affection.

(He totally cared.)

“Snoke wanted you to kill your father because he thought that killing someone you loved would bring you completely into the dark side,” Hux mused. He paused and stared at Ben, his eyes widening. “You—what the hell, Ren?” 

Ben was still refusing to make eye contact. “I’m not killing you, so this conversation is pointless.”

Hux stepped in closer to him. “If I’m a person whose death can turn you to the dark side,” he mused, “then I must be very important to you.” His voice had gone low, almost like a purr.

Ben seemed frozen in place, not sure what to do. He glanced in their direction with wide, panicked eyes.

Hux placed a hand on either side of his head, turned his gaze back in his own direction, and proceeded to kiss him deeply.

Han felt deeply uncomfortable being present while his son was kissed to within an inch of his life. “Should we leave?” he asked Anakin.

Ben pulled out of the kiss. “YES!” he shouted in Han’s direction. “Get out of my rooms and give us some privacy!”

Hux looked confused for a moment before smirking smugly. “Your father’s ghost again?” he asked. “He probably shouldn’t stick around to see the things I plan to do to you.”

Han was already making headway to the door. “I’ll see you later, Ben, have fun!” he said, dragging Anakin along with him.

Once they were thankfully in the hallway away from his son’s new relationship and any sex that might occur, Han looked at Anakin. “Is that it?” 

“You still have to help them find a solution to the Snoke problem,” Anakin pointed out. “But I’d say your task is almost complete.” He stood and began to vanish slightly. “I have to get back to the others, but you’re doing pretty good without me.” Then, he was gone, leaving Han in an empty hallway.  
  
What was he supposed to do now?

* * *

Han waited until he was absolutely sure that everyone had their clothing on before he approached his son again. In the meanwhile, he haunted the bridge of the Finalizer, pettily harassing the crew with his ability to move objects. He made a lieutenant cry by levitating his cup of caf into the air and spilling it all over his datapad. He prompted a fight between two ensigns by stealing personal items from one station and hiding them in another. He made the lights flicker on and off.

Maybe being a ghost wasn’t all that horrible.

General Hux reappeared a few hours later, dressed impeccably as always, every hair gelled in place. As the bridge crew reported on the latest shenanigans, he rolled his eyes. “We seem to have acquired a ghost thanks to Kylo Ren,” he told them. “I assure you, I’ll ensure that Lord Ren encourages him to depart in a timely manner.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Han.

Hux picked up his commlink and dialed someone. “Ren,” he snapped into the commlink. “Your father seems to have taken to harassing my bridge crew. I suggest you come down here and sort this out.” There was a reply that Han couldn’t hear. “He’s on my ship because of you, so I think it is _your problem_. Get down here.” At that, Hux hung up on him.

“Is that any way to treat your lover?” Han muttered, pretending that he hadn’t spent way too much of his life pulling Leia’s metaphorical pigtails because it was just too fun. The small upturn at the side of Hux’s mouth spoke volumes of how much enjoyment he got out of ordering Ben around. Maybe it was a sex thing.

Ben stalked onto the bridge a few moments later. He immediately located Han, who was trying to cut off a lieutenant’s ponytail without her noticing, and marched over to him. The lieutenant squeaked and saluted fiercely, and her hair slipped from the scissors once more.

“Father,” Ben said to the scissors next to the lieutenant. “Stop hassling the bridge and come with me. We need to talk.”

He led him to a meeting room off of the bridge and closed the door behind him. Han slouched in a chair, kicking his feet up on the table and resting his hands behind his head smugly.

“How was it, kid? Do you need me to give you some advice? Did you use protection?”

Ben was unamused and blushing. “Shut up,” he said. “Tell me how to get you to leave.”

“I’m hurt,” said Han, not really hurt at all. He didn’t particularly want to hang around the Finalizer for the rest of his afterlife either, not once he knew that Ben was going to be okay. “From what I’ve been led to understand, my mission here was to find the person you couldn’t kill and make sure that Snoke didn’t find out who it was.”

“Well,” said Ben, a hint of smugness in his tone, “I’ve found him, and I’ll keep him safe.”

Oh, these two were going to be horrible about each other; Han could already tell. He was just thankful that he most likely wouldn’t have to be around to witness it.

“What about Snoke? How do I know he won’t try to make you kill Hux once I’m gone?” Han asked.

“He won’t,” said Ben, “because we’re going to kill him.”

The man in front of him, this child that he had created and raised, gave him a feral smile that terrified him. When Han and Leia had been young parents, raising their small son, they’d shared their hopes and dreams about Ben’s future, hoping that he’d get involved with politics or become a powerful, wise Jedi or even a rebellious smuggler like his father. They hadn’t worried about his desire to be loved and used, his need for acceptance, and his uncontrollable anger until much, much later.

For the first time, Han began to understand why Ben had picked a new name for himself, a new identity.

But if Kylo turned that bloodthirsty streak and that acceptance towards Snoke instead of Leia and the Republic, Han couldn’t complain. It was no secret that Hux desired to rule, and eventually that would bring them back in conflict with one another again, but for that moment? Han’s work was done.

“Well done, kid,” he said, wishing he could cross the conference room and ruffle Kylo’s thick hair. “I’m proud of you.”

Kylo looked like he was about to cry. “Father,” he said, in that weird formality that he’d always had.

“Despite your messed up relationship with a genocidal maniac,” Han said, “I think you’ll find your way. It’s just a gut feeling.”

Kylo did cry, then, his face crumpling rather unattractively. “Thanks, father,” he said. “I _am_ sorry that I let Snoke manipulate me into killing you.”

“I know you are,” Han said. “I know you are.”

Kylo wiped the tears from his eyes and reached forward to hug him. Han knew they’d go straight through each other, but he stood and put his arms out anyway, for the gesture if nothing else…and impacted solid human flesh as Kylo wrapped his arms around him and hugged him for all he was worth.

“What—“ Han said, disbelieving. His son was so _solid_.

“I don’t know,” Kylo said. “Don’t question it. Maybe it’s because you’ve succeeded in your mission.” He gave him one final hug and stepped away. “Goodbye, father,” he said. “I love you.” With that final comment, he turned on his heel and left the room, leaving Han angrily wiping away his own tears.

So that was it, then.

Han saw a white light, coming towards him. This had to be the end. This was—

He rematerialized in Yoda’s hut in the swamp.

“Are you serious?” he snapped. Yoda, Obi-wan, and Anakin turned and looked at him. Anakin even appeared to be smirking. “I’m stuck with you assholes forever?”

“My son and daughter will be joining us eventually,” said Anakin. “Are you telling me you want to move on in the afterlife without them by your side?”

Han really did not.

He really had little choice. He sat down in the hut and joined the conversation.

Maybe once Luke and Leia were there, being a Force ghost wouldn’t be so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Totally forgot to add this - come hang out with me on [tumblr](http://saucy-kate.tumblr.com/)!


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